Legend
by flamingflight
Summary: They say one incident shapes all others...how true they were...


Legend

By Max-chan

Author's Notes: My second songfic thus far. For the longest time I thought about doing a songfic by the song 'Simple Kind of Life' by No Doubt {really, how perfect is that for the Ranma girls?} then my friend got me the Nelly Furtado C.D. for Christmas. I was listening through it and when I got to the song 'Legend', I have to admit I didn't really like it that much. I was like...eh...okay. Then, I listened to it over and over again and now I can't get enough of that song! It's crazy. I absolutely love that song. Well, so here's the songfic on it. It may seem strange, but look who you're dealing with here. It is so AU. Sorta sad too for my Ranma and Akane fans. Remember, I already cautioned you.

Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Legend belongs to Nelly Furtado, G. Eaton and B. West {Don't look at me, that's what it says on the inside cover}

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He wants to be...he wants to be...with everything under the sun...

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The sun shone mercilessly down on the hill, it's hot rays killing and burning up all the living things. The field was a ghastly sight with bodies covering it. There was very few blood though. The bodies had rot here under the sun for too long for there to be fresh blood. Sad that none of these warriors will ever see their families again. Sad...pitiful, yes...but sad. Some did not even have all the body parts they came in to fight with. Some had died with their eyes open and the sight of hundreds of blank gazes were horrible. In the center, he stood, his form crouched above them all. His mouth was tight and his eyes were dark. They were a dark, merciless blue with no mistaking it. His face was young...but brutal...and even the dark, black hair tied in a childish fashion could not deter from his frightening image. It was a boy...but too old to be a boy.

The figure stared across the fields at the thousands of carcasses and still his face was passive...calm ...like the quiet gentle before a storm. He held nothing in his hands and yet he held the world and it's base wrongs. Then, the boy turned his head towards the horizon and with measured steps, walked towards it. There was nothing left here for him...he had done what he could.

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He wants to be...he wants to be...with everything...under the sun...

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The desert sun beat down on his face and form. A young boy too proud and cold to say anything to stop his torture. It had been three long days now that he has been laying here...staring into the blidning light of the sun. He may have lost his eyesight already...he did not know...and did not care. The crowd that had gathered around to watch the first day had dwindled away...and others have come to watch his death and destruction. Well, maybe not destruction...and maybe not death...those had already passed for him. Still, he continued to stare into the sun...and all that he saw there was her face...sad and crying for him... laughing and happy for him.

By his side he could hear someone weeping. Why was she crying now? Why wasn't she crying when she schemed to get her father to catch them? Why wasn't she crying when she played the innocent and lied? Why wasn't she crying then when she had...like all the others...tried to capture and snare him? No, she had to be crying now when he was about to leave...and get peace. The boy smiled softly.

A face suddenly appeared before him. It was the King with malice and anger ridden all over his face. Yet, somewhere deep below was also satisfaction for being able to harm this great warrior. The boy was disgusted. He saw that way too often...and yet...every time...he still felt disgusted.

"Well, boy?" the man snarled, his face contorting, losing the last of it's human beauty. "What do you say now?"

"I say let me go," the boy said softly, calmly.

The King's face glowed with satisfaction.

"Then, you will do as I say?" he asked just to be sure and just so that he could hear the words of defeat from the boy.

"Never," the boy said before turning to stare back at the sun...at her face.

"You would rather roast to death then marry my daughter?" the King shouted in outrage. The boy said nothing for he knew the King knew what his answer was. It hadn't been a question really. The girl pushed past her father and this time she stared directly in his line of vision. She blocked out the sun. The boy was getting annoyed.

Her once beautiful, make-up clad face was now streaked with tears and dust and he realized she wasn't as beautiful as she had made herself out to be. What a waste. She could have been beautiful if only she didn't have such selfishness in her soul.

"Please Kovar!" she begged him. "Please just consent! He will kill you! Would it be that horrible to marry me, after all? I am a beautiful girl...and my father is one of the richest in the land...you can learn to adore me."

He just moved his head so that he no longer had to look at her.

The boy stared back at the beautiful face of his sun.

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And like a legend that rises and then falls...I cannot be his only one...

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The two fought together, a perfect pair...totally in sync with each other. Their fight was beautiful... like a dance perform by two great parts of one person. He was everything that she was not and she was everything that he was not. They had fit each other like pieces of a puzzle. Two halves of a whole. Finally, the dance stopped and he had her by the waist with one arm around her neck.

"Okay, I give!" she laughed and he let her go. The woman was beautiful with rugged, thick, brown hair and comfortable fighting clothes adorned her body. She was a man's dream in one form. 

"I told you I would win," he said with a cold type of humor in his voice. The boy walked over to pick up his bag and threw it over his shoulder in a careless fashion. The woman had a worried look in her eyes as though a cloud had just passed through her sunlight. She walked over and caught him by the arm.

"You're going back to her, aren't you?" she asked harshly, trying to keep the tears from her voice. She could not keep them from her eyes, however. 

"Which her?" he asked and the coldness was not intentional. It was natural. Her eyes flashed and reflected her pain and he felt he owed an explanation to her after everything.

"There are millions of 'hers' all over. I am only leaving one 'her' for another. If you mean that girl I was with when I met you then 'no.' I don't think I'll ever see Lara again. It doesn't matter. They'll always be another 'Lara'." His eyes had grown distant now...staring over the horizon. They were edgy... restless...he needed to be over that horizon again...and then over the next. There will always be a horizon to cross and a girl to love.

"Then you'll just forget me? Just like that?" she asked as she backed away. So odd for her to be the one that was being left this time. She was always the wanderer...the deserter...odd that she should be the deserted now.

"I thought you were better then that, Mila. You don't want to be tied down, remember? You love to be on your own...needing no man nor woman. Remember?" he asked softly, his voice entreating her to be who she was when he met her. 

"But I need you!" she cried softly. She hated this...hated herself for acting like this...but she was desperate...she could not bare to see him leave.

"Well, I am," he said with a cold finality. He hefted his bag and started towards the horizon.

Mila clutched herself for warmth although they were in the middle of the desert.

"Onto another 'her' until you find the right one, right, Ronny?" she asked, trying to make light of the situation but still her heart contracted at her words.

He stopped for a second.

"I already found the right 'her', Mila," he said off his shoulder.

"Then, why are you still searching?" she shouted towards him.

This time he didn't stop.

"Who said I was searching?"

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He makes me feel...he makes me feel...like you used to...like you used to...

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Mu Tsu stormed into the small hut where the girl sat putting ornaments into her hair. He always adored her hair...the large mass of purple that just seemed to come alive as she had. She never bothered to put anything more in it then necessary though. It was always the color ribbons that marked her status and nothing else. He always thought her beautiful without the ornaments.

The girl turned around in anger and yelled at him, "Mu Tsu, close the door! You're letting the cold wind in! It's messing up my hair!" Dumbly, he did as he was told, but he had momentarily forgotten why he came here. Why was she yelling at him like that? She hadn't yelled at him since they were kids and she bossed him around? Ever since they became officially engaged though, she had stopped. That brought back the memory of why he was here right now.

"Shan Pu," he said in a stern voice...as stern as he could manage around her. "RanRan said she saw you with that outsider by the edge of the woods. She said you kissed him." She turned to him then and looking into her eyes, he wondered how he could have possibly believed RanRan. Of course Shan Pu wouldn't do that to him. She loved him, after all.

When he was about to apologize and leave the hut, she spoke up.

"So, what if I did? What does it matter to you?" she asked in a haughty tone. He was taken aback and did not know what to say. Mu Tsu hadn't expected her to admit to her crime, nevertheless in that 'no-one-may-care' tone.

"What if you did? You're my fiancee!" he shouted, but it came out as more then a wail. His mind was still groping at the idea of his sweet Shampoo cheating on him. 

"Since when?" she snapped, swinging around to face him. Her violet eyes flashed with anger and a deep bitterness to long hidden. She jumped up and in the next second she was nose to nose with him.

"When did it matter to you what I did or did not do, Mu Tsu? You were too busy training with the other warriors, I didn't think you'd notice!" her voice did not shake and it did not waver...but it did tremble slightly.

What? What was she talking about? The thoughts swam around in his head like a new load of laundry to sort through. He was afraid it wasn't going to make it to cleaning day.

"What?" he stumbled.

"Yes, what!" she poked a finger into his chest, making him stumble back slightly. "What happened? You used to love me, Mu Tsu! You used to spend all your time around me! You used to tell me I was beautiful and that there was no one else! You used to be my friend! But then you came of age and started training with the warriors! Suddenly, you no longer had time for little Shan Pu." With her every word she poked him in the chest until he was out of the door.

"So, until you say anything think about this; are you angry because I kissed Tanu or are you afraid it will ruin your image among the warriors?" with that she pulled down the flap of the hut and pinned it at the corners so that he could not get back in.

"He doesn't love you, you know!" Mu Tsu shouted in retaliation.

Her words came to him then, through the animal skin...sad and soft.

"Yes...but at least I can pretend he does."

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And like a fickle flower when it first sees the light...I cannot show just how I fight...

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The boy sat across from the mother in the small apartment. The mother wasn't beautiful, but she was pretty with her light, blonde curls and dark green eyes. Her face was pale and her hair was messy, but there was an afterglow around her. The two week old baby in her arms stirred and whined slightly before settling down again with it's fist in it's fist in it's mouth. She looked down at the wrinkled creature with love in her eyes and the boy had to give a slight smile at that. She had a pure heart, this one. He knew good things were in store in her future to compensate for the bad things of her past.

"He's a sweet boy," the boy with the strange hairstyle said. "Have you decided on a name for him yet?"

The young mother looked up at him then. How kind he had been...how very compassionate...how could she have prevented herself from loving him? This stranger had walked into her life after her husband had died. She had been three months pregnant with a ratty apartment and nowhere to go. Without a word or explanation, he had helped her and now she knew that he was about to leave.

"I was thinking about naming him Vonny...after his father," she said cautiously, not sure how he would take it.

"I'm not his father," the boy said gently.

"I know!" the mother cried in frustration. "But you might as well be! You were there when he was born!"

"But I won't be there when he grows up. You know that already, Moni. You know me. I'm leaving. Speaking of which...I think it's best that I leave now."

The boy walked over and kissed the baby on the head. Then, he kissed the mother on the forehead. A tear escaped from her closed eyes but she would not say anything.

"Don't worry, Moni," he whispered. "You're good at heart. There are good things in store for you. Me...I'm already too far gone to make an attempt to go back."

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And like a fickle flower when it first sees the light...I cannot show just how I fight...

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The child's eyes opened slowly and took in it's surroundings. Obviously, he was in a hospital of some sort. There was a grown-up by his side. Instantly defensive, the kid tried to jump up and grab his knife...but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's my stuff?" the kid asked the boy by his bed. The kid's eyes flicked distrustfully around the hospital and then down at his hospital gown.

"I thought you could do without your knife for once, Rex," the boy who was not that much older then Rex smiled.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Rex asked, searching around for an exit. He had to get out of here and get back to Tommy. The leader of his gang was not going to like this.

"Oh, I know many things about you, Rex. I know that you were a kid living off the streets. I know your name and your age. I, also, happen to know that Tommy will not like it when you come back. He would rather have you off dead after what happened. In fact, I believe he will do that just to convenience himself when you do come back. What I have for you is a proposition. I need a...sidekick, you can say. I need someone to travel with me and help me with the things that I do."

"You mean a lackey," Rex said but he knew the boy was telling the truth. Tommy was most definitely going to finish him off if he found out he was still alive after that bust. Maybe a new gig wouldn't be so bad, after all. 

"You could say that," the boy said and Rex cut him off.

"But why me?"

"You have a certain...thing...that people lack...or maybe you lack something that people have. Either way...there's just something about you that coins the term 'doesn't-give-a-damn.' Life for you is one big game. One that you don't care if you win or lose...as long as you get to keep playing. Now, are you in?" the boy had walked over by this time and Rex could see something glimmer in his eyes. Hmm...what can of person had eyes that blue? Yet, hidden deep within there were also gray.

Hmm...blue-gray eyes...

"Sure, why not?" Rex said as he shrugged his shoulders. "What's your name, old man?"

The boy suddenly gave out a burst of laughter.

"What makes you call me an old man, I look only a few years older then you," he laughed.

"Don't try to BS me. I know what I know and you are not as old as you look. The only thing that shows your true age are your eyes. Everything else is just accessories."

The sound of laughter could be heard as the boy who was not a boy led the kid who was not a kid out of the hospital wing.

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Because babe, I saw you walking...it was midnight...carrying nothing except for a flashlight...

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The beautiful red-head with the hour-glass figure walked over and hugged the millionaire from behind. They stood on the balcony staring at the stars as the party continued on in the condo. He smiled at her before turning his head to stare back up at the stars. He sighed and the model stroked his hair slightly.

"Honey, what's wrong?" she asked him. For as long as she knew him, Rex 'the T-Rex' Luthor had always been a fun, witty, go-lucky guy. She wondered what could put him down on his 21st birthday.

"Nothing..." the man sighed again as he looked up at the stars. "It's just...he said he would be here..."

"Who?" she asked but he just shook his head.

They stood there in silence for awhile before he spoke again.

"You know...a great boy once told me...that stars were too over-rated. That the sun was much more beautiful...stupid, huh?" he said softly and for a second, he sounded like a boy himself. A boy off the streets. The woman stared down at this man that she loved and she realized that like everyone else...she didn't know him at all. He was an enigma to them all. He had just appeared one day with a fortune saying and claiming to everyone that he inherited it. Nobody believed him but nobody said anything. You didn't need an explanation when you had the kind of money he did.

"Come on," she said as she pulled at his hand. "Let's go inside. I'm cold."

"Okay," he said as he gave her a weak smile. Rex looked once more at the stars before going inside. The red-head looked up at the stars then down at the ground below the balcony. 

There he was! There was a figure...a boy really...his face hidden in the shadows...but she could see his face...and he was smiling! He winked at her once before disappearing into the night.

Shaking her head roughly, the model poured the rest of her wine down the ground and walked into the party.

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You wanted to be Romeo...so low at my window...You wanted to be Romeo...so low at my window...

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"Oh sweet, sweet flower up above. May thou glance out thou window and glance at me," Kuno beseeched up to the house. A rustling sound could be heard and in the next second, the window on the second floor of the house was thrown open. The fuzzy, sleepy head of a teenage girl popped out.

"Tatewaki!" she whispered down in fury. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Oh fair Nabiki, how my heart beats to see your lovely fac-ugh!" the shoe that connect with his face cut off the rest of that speech. 

"Pipe down, you fool!" Nabiki whispered harshly down. "Go home and go to bed and I'll talk to you tomorrow!" With that she slammed the window closed and silence ensued.

Finally, Kuno shouted out, "The foul sorcerer has left!"

Suddenly, thudding footsteps could be heard and the window was thrown open again.

"What?" Nabiki shouted, no longer caring about the volume of her voice. "You lie, Kuno! Runo wouldn't just leave like that! He would have told me!"

"No, 'tis true, fair maiden. The foul sorcerer has left. He has told me to hand you this." Kuno pulled out a crumpled envelope from somewhere inside his coat and threw it up at the window. Nabiki reached out and caught it and like a child eagerly opening a piece of candy, she ripped open the letter. It read:

Dear Nabiki,

I'm leaving. No need to cry any tears for me, dear girl. You're stronger then that, right, Nabiki? You don't cry for boys...only money. Don't let money rule your life, Nabiki. I'm never coming back...you should know that by now. Buck up, dear girl, and hold your head high. You don't need money and wealth to prove your worth. You're worth far more then money and power can buy. Look down at your window. Kuno may be an idiot but he really loves you. Give him a chance.

-R.

"That bastard!" Nabiki cursed silently, refusing to let the tears pour.

"Majestic queen?" came Kuno's questioning voice from below. Nabiki looked down and she didn't see him in a new light...no he was still same old Kuno...and the so-called mercenary grin. Same old Kuno.

"Hey, Tatewaki!" she shouted down as she threw the letter into her wastebasket.

"Yes, fair one?" 

"How about me and you go to have lunch tomorrow? My treat."

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Will you open the door for me if you believe in chivalry...Will you open the door for me if you believe in chivalry...

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Ukyo scrubbed the counters of the restaurant. Today had been tiring, she had a birthday party planned with twenty tables booked. Her hair was a mess and she didn't even want to think about her clothes. It was worth it though...she loved her restaurant and she loved the business. It sure could be tiring sometime, though. Next, the floor. Sloshing her murky water bucket onto the floor, the chef started to scrub at the tiles. Suddenly, a pair of shoes and feet appeared in front of her. She slowly traced the way up to his grinning face and outstretched hand. 

"A dance, Lady Ukyo?" the grinning boy asked. With a gracious smile, she took his hand and stood up slowly. He took her in his arms and together they started to dance to the soft music in their heads. The dirty, messy restaurant fell away to a palace ballroom. Ukyo's dirty Okonomiyaki outfit fell away to a dazzling ball-gown. She was dancing...dancing with the Prince...dancing with the love of her life...

Everything was perfect.

"Are you happy, Ucchan?" he whispered in her ear.

"Very," she giggled back. 

Then, in a softer tone.

"Only you can make me this happy, Ranchan."

"Then, let me give you one last dance before I go," he whispered in her ear. Ukyo's eyes snapped open and she pushed the boy away from her. The illusion shimmered away and she was back in her restaurant with her dirty clothes and messy hair.

"What?" she asked.

His eyes were soft and he held out his hand to her.

"You know I have to go, Ucchan," he said, begging her to understand. Ukyo brushed his hand away as tears gathered in her eyes.

"No! You don't have to go anywhere, Ranchan! There is nothing for you anywhere but here. Here is where your home is!" she cried. The boy sighed as he looked at her. His heart hurt...he didn't want to hurt her. She was the closest one...the one out of them all that he adored the most...and so with his parting...will hurt the most. Ranchan. That name. It was the closest...so close...he had told her everything about himself...

"My home is with the sun, Ucchan," he said. "My home is under the sun."

"Fine then! Go! But I hope you know that even when she did love you...she didn't love you a fraction as much as I do." Her words were spiteful now...trying to inflict pain on him...but she was too late for that. Nothing could inflict pain on him.

"That may be true," the boy said softly as he picked up his bag. "But truth is...I, also, know that I can't love you a fraction as much as I love her."

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For I do not think you low though you bow to me so-so...I do not think you low though you bow to me so-so...

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The sweet girl sat on the log like a Queen addressing her animal subjects. The forest was her kingdom and the woods her domain. Her dress folded around her as the sunlight hit her like one might respectfully touch a sacred object...gentle...scared that it would break. Yet, this girl was not a doll. She was too strong on the inside and too human on the outside to be a doll. There was only one other human...if he could be called that...in the woods and he was currently bending over to be knighted. 

Solemnly taking a stick, the little girl placed it softly on the older boy's shoulder.

"I now knight you Sir Wild Horse," she said, her voice angelic. Unlike the many others, she was young enough to realize that names did not matter.

The boy stood up and taking the whole business very solemnly also, he nodded.

"I shall do my best, Queen Kasumi," he said.

She smiled at him then and said, "Let us celebrate then, Sir Wild Horse! Let the whole Kingdom celebrate this great honor that has been given to you."

The boy's face shadowed for a second as he said, "I'm afraid I can't, Queen Kasumi. I must leave now. There are dragons to slay and villains to fight, after all."

"Oh...well, I wish you the best of luck, Sir Wild Horse and may you have a safe journey." Her smile was pure and her words were sincere. Also, unlike the others, she was special enough to now how to not ever to lay claim to anything. The boy was always amazed by this young girl. She was the first that did not beg him to stay when given the choice.

"Why do you not ask me to stay, Queen Kasumi?" he asked, still in wonder.

"Because, Sir Wild Horse," she replied kindly as though talking to a small child, "I know you're not really gone. I'll remember you and so you'll always stay with me." Such simple logic. He nodded and with a parting smile left the little Queen in her Kingdom. 

She was the only one that allowed him to leave...

...maybe that was why he kept coming back every year to watch her grow up.

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I know you want to drink from the purest wine...but the drink is far more sour than you would ever think...

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He entered the local pub and sat down for a drink. He did not say anything to anybody and kept his head down. After awhile, Mickey, the bartender walked over to talk to him.

"Hey, stranger, what's your problem?" Mickey asked and when the boy looked up, Mickey knew he had been mistaken. He was years into the business of reading people and this boy was so immersed in his problems...he had none at all. Like when the water gets so hot, it feels cold.

"None, but what's yours?" the boy countered back with a crooked grin.

"Me? I got no problems. Nope, I got me one good life and one good future. I'm gonna make it out of here one day, you know," Mickey said it with pride.

"Oh really?" the stranger asked skeptically. "And what do you plan to do once you leave this two-but town?"

"I'll go into business. Everyone says I'm gifted...that I was born in the wrong place. Now, I can be all that I want to be. I'll become a millionaire and live in a big mansion with everything I could possibly want."

"But would you be happy?" the boy asked quietly.

Startled, Mickey asked, "Huh?"

The stranger looked up from his drink and started into Mickey's eyes again.

"I'll give you an image of what would happen, Mickey. You'll go out into the world with your big degree and you'll take the business world by storm. They haven't seen such sheer...brilliance...in so long. You'll become famous and with the first million that you make, you'll phone home and tell everyone. The town will be happy for their little Mickey and so will your parents. They'll all be so proud. And Brith, you know, the love of your life...she'll be happy and she'll tell you to come home. You tell her you will...but you just started. Then, you make your next million...and then your next...and then your next...and everyone loves you because your handsome, smart, witty and rich. Every year at Christmas , you'll phone home to the town and though your parents still love you...what's another million to them? The town no longer acts as though you're a hero because although you're great...you're no longer their little Mickey. They'd just as soon celebrate little Bobby's first tooth then your first billion. Then, one day you come home and lo and behold...Brith's married. She got tired of the glamour and the fame around you. You get angry and say that you're happy the way you are...that you don't need this small town or any of it's people. You go back to your big mansion and your pile of money and then guess what happens?"

"What?" Mickey asked with wide eyes, now fully taken in.

The boy shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip of his drink.

"You die. Sure, it'll be quite a few years...but in the end you die...and you have your wonderful business friends and money there to comfort you." With that the boy slapped a twenty dollar bill on the table and walked out.

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He wants to be...he wants to be...with everything...under the sun...

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He laid on the desert sand...he was tired...no longer restless.

The boy stared up at the sun...where her face was...and he was just so tired now...

Maybe he was dying...maybe he was living...maybe both...

Who knew?

Too many times has he lived...too many places has he gone...too many people...

Who knew parallel Universes even existed? Who knew there were so many realms to travel? Who knew how many different versions of the people he could have known?

It's been too long.

How long has it been?

Centuries...decades...years...weeks...days...hours...minutes...seconds...

And still he remembered how this all started for him...

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..._and she wants to burn...she wants to burn...hot like that sun...hot like that sun..._

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He sat soaking wet in the living room of that house. The girl was poking at his chest. He hated his father. He hated his father. He hated his father.

"Hey, Nabiki, stop that," a voice rang out. He looked over at the youngest girl.

She smiled.

He melted.

"Hi, I'm Akane Tendo. Want to be friends?"

He fell.

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Just like a legend that rises and then falls...I cannot be...his only one...

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He pushed through the thick crowd of mourners in the house. He saw them crying. No, no, he kept saying to himself. She's not dead yet! She can't die! Not without me! He had rushed here as soon as he heard the news but he feared it was too late. He ran up to her room and opened the door. He pushed past all the children and he pushed back all the grandchildren . He just wanted to see Akane again. There she was on the bed. How frail she looked...and how old. Only then, for the first time, did he notice her age. And in her eyes he could see it...there was no saving her now...she was going to die...

"Akane, dammit Akane, don't you dare die on me! Akane! Akane!" he cried as he held her small, fragile form to his.

She laughed.

She had the nerve to laugh! As though this was one big joke to her.

"Oh Ranma, I'm 104...you can't expect me to live forever, can you?" she asked.

"You better damn well try!" he cursed at her. His tears fell now...but he didn't notice them.

"Ranma, sweet, sweet Ranma..." the old woman said as she stroked his cheek lovingly. "How many years we've wasted. So many years."

"I didn't waste them! You did! You were the one that married Ryoga!" he snarled out viciously, but still he would not let her go.

Her voice was sad now.

"I got tired of waiting, Saotome. I got tired of waiting for you to make up your damn mind about which one of us you wanted to marry...so I decided to make my own choice...and Ryoga had loved me so much. But he's gone now...just like all the others..."

"Well, you better not follow them!" he demanded.

She continued as though not hearing him, "...but you were so stubborn! How could I know you would leave for China like that and not come back? And then...after Ryoga's death...you still could not forgive me. I may have wasted half of our years together...but you wasted the other half, you stubborn jerk."

"Akane! Akane! I forgive you! I forgive!" he cried out as he saw her eyes start to droop.

"Too late for that, Saotome. Just live your life, Ranma...live your life and wait for me. I'll come back for you." Then, her eyes closed and she was no longer with him. The boy sobbed and sobbed but still she would not return. No one could come near him to take her body from his arms. 

But then he looked up...and he saw the mirror she had in her room...

...and all he saw was a boy clutching an old woman...

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__

And like a callous, cold, callous woman...she'll never know...what she did done....

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Now, as he laid here waiting for death to come...he still stared at her shining face in the sun. He had lied to Mila. He had been searching all these years. Searching for another Akane...but he never found her...there was only one Akane...and she was gone...

Oh he found a million Ukyos...and a gazillion Shampoos...some had the same names as the others...

Sometimes...eh even found another Ranma...with a different name...and different circumstances...but he knew it was him...

His eyes started to close...and there was a smile on his lips...

He heard a laugh...then a giggle...

Then...

"Get up, you lazy jerk. You're getting to become like your father!"

He sat up with a start. Maybe it was just an illusion...but even if it was just an illusion...he could live with an illusion of her...

...and sure enough...there she was...

In the hot desert with a sundress on...looking not a day older then he did.

"A-Akane?" he stammered. It had been so long. Was she always this beautiful? Did his heart always pound like this? Did he always feel this happy? Suddenly, he couldn't remember all the centuries that he wasn't.

"What?" she asked with a grin on her face.

He grinned as he turned away from the sun to look at her.

"You still look like an uncute tomboy."

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__

So like this legend that rises and then falls...she'll always be his only one...

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Author's Notes: Okay, okay, so I changed the last line a little. It's supposed to be 'So like this legend that rises and then falls...I'll never be his only one...' Still, I thought it was sweet.


End file.
